Lost in a New Zone
by StealthTheFox
Summary: What would you do if Sonic and Tails ended up in your world? What if you helped them get back to theirs? What if you accidently went with them? This is that kind of tale. Self-insert with some alterations. T for language and violence. Please refrain from flaming.
1. Not-So-Typical Beginning

**Welcome all to Chapter One of Lost in a New Zone. For those of you familiar with my original work on deviantArt, I've decided to make an entirely new tale based on a what if scenario that's been running in my head for a while. There's probably a lot of these, but I don't care in the slightest. Quick heads up that any change in the setting will be signaled by This Example.... Enjoy!**

**In a dark sewer...**

Run. That's all I could do. I had no ideas left, my gun ran out of ammo, and the only weapon I had left is a knife. The sloshes of water echoed as I dashed through the sewers, hoping to escape my enemy. I looked back to see if he was still behind me. He was. My heart beat immensely and my fingers wouldn't stop trembling as I rushed to get away. I reached the staircase and quickly proceeded to race up the metallic planks. I was almost home free… until I was cut off.

Someone I defeated many times before blocked my exit, and was eager for vengeance. Aiming his loaded rocket launcher at me, I stared inside at what was sure to be a guaranteed fatality. I had no choice. It was either this, or something far worse. So I just sat there as he fired, the rocket glowing a beautiful deep blue and the only thing I heard was a quick bell ding… and the sound of revenge.

**In a bedroom...**

"Damn it!" I shouted as I slammed my headset down on my hardwood desk, surprisingly not snapping it in half. I looked at my computer screen to see the words 'Just Paragon GOT REVENGE ON Stealth The Fox'. I put my headset back on, and immediately regretted doing so as I could hear the sound of hysterical laughter on the other end.

Allow to self-introduce. My name's Logan Andrews. I consider myself a hardcore gamer, and I live up to my title. My dad recently bought me a new laptop with a better graphics drive, so I've been wasting my day playing Team Fortress 2 with my friend, Joey. And I loved every minute of it… up until that point. At the moment, I was dressed in a light blue t-shirt, blue jeans, and black cowboy boots with the lengthy parts tucked under by jeans. I didn't have anywhere to go, but it was comfortable attire for me.

What ended up happening in my game was while playing as the Spy, my all-time favorite, I was being chased by a Pyro who caught me sapping the sentry gun of an Engineer. Since my Ambassador had no ammo, and I wasn't near any deep water to retaliate with my tiny little knife, I took the liberty of fleeing until Joey cut me off. Essentially I was caught between a rocket and a hot place, and I decided to take the rocket. I hate Pyros so much that I would rather kill myself in the game over being killed by one. Call me a sore loser.. but I don't care.

Joey and I were in a Skype call during the game. After Joey caught his breath, he responded to me saying "_Ohh.. I'm sorry, man. That was just too big an opportunity to pass up. How did you even end up down there?"_

"If you really wanna know," I began, "I ended up being caught and hunted down by a muffler and ran into you. I took my chances."

"_You mean a Pyro. __Dude, why do you hate Pyros so much? They're a credit to the teams."_

"They're a freakin' plague! A plague that can't even be killed by fire, considering it _starts_ the fire."

"_Is that because you keep getting outed when trying to sap an Engie?"_

"I-…. Lucky guess," I sighed, running my fingers through my dark-brown hair. Yes, the main reason I hate Pyros is because they can discover Spies so quickly just by spamming their flamethrowers, then tail after them or leave them in the hands of their teammates after igniting them. They are Spy-checkers. My worst enemy. Especially this one since he's essentially set up his territory beside the Engie's. "So how did you find me?"

"_Heard the water splashing around in the sewers while I was in your base. Got curious." _'Damn it,' I thought. 'No wonder. We must've made a lotta noise down there.'

"Well enjoy your victory while it lasts, bud. I'll get my domination back the best way I know how."

That comment left him sitting silently on the other end of the call for a moment. "… _You wouldn't._"

I smirked at his disapproval. "I will now." As I respawned, I immediately switched to the Scout, my best class in the game. While I enjoy playing Spy, he's only my third best class, second being the Demoman. My absolute "server-clearing" class is ultimately the Scout by a landslide. Plus I installed a mod that changed his model into that of Sonic the Hedgehog, so there's also that.

Ever since I first got to play the SEGA Genesis when I was six, I've been a die-hard fan of Sonic. The blue blur has been engraved in my thoughts for a long time. While I was still a console gamer, almost every time a Sonic game comes out, I'll own it. I switched over to PC gaming after starting high school, and I haven't been able to play any recent Sonic games aside from Generations. That game certainly brought back the classic style. I'll still watch other Sonic walkthroughs on streaming sites from time to time, just to bring back the hype.

But moving on, I spent the last five minutes I had left hunting down Joey. The reason why I say the last is because my phone started ringing by then. "Hang on a sec, Joey. My phone's ringing." I took off my headset and answered. "Hello?"

"_Hey, Logan!"_ I heard the other voice on the phone. I instantly recognized the voice as my girlfriend, Bethany. She's not a gamer like I am, but she's a really fun girl to be around. We met in the second semester of our freshman year and started off as friends. Over the course of two weeks, we started falling for each other, but couldn't bring the nerve to say it. Then she explained her feelings for me, who responded saying the same thing. So we hit it off, and we've been together for over three years.

"Ohh hey sweetheart. What's up?" I asked.

"_I was able to sneak away from my house for the day. Johnathan's been acting up, so I needed some time away from it. I'm headed over to the old place near the lake. Wanna meet me there?" _She referred to a place I go to just relax and think about my life.

"Sure. I'm in a game with Joey, though. I'll finish it up and head your way."

"_Okay then. I'll be waiting. Oh, and tell Joey I said hi!"_

"I will remember to do so. Love you!"

"_Love you too! Bye!" _The phone cut off. I sat it back down and put my headset on to explain to Joey the news.

"Hey Joey, I just got a call from Beth. She's over at the old place waiting for me," I said to him.

"_Gyaaah. That means you have ta go, doesn't it?" _he groaned.

"Yeah, it does. But hey, this was a good game none-the-less, right?"

"_Mm, yeah. Especially since I ended your domination on me."_

"About that…" I kept my mouth shut after that and waited for him to answer. On my screen, my Scout snuck up behind his Soldier.

"… _What?_" he asked skeptically. I held back a laugh.

"BOOSH!" I clicked on my mouse and my character used his Scattergun to blow Joey's character away, the words popping up; 'Stealth The Fox IS DOMINATING Just Paragon.' "Drop dead and gimme twenty!" I shouted in my best Scout voice.

"_AHH! You son of a bitch!" _he cried.

"Payback's just that." Then I let loose the sinister laugh. As I ended the game, I told Joey "Good game," and ended the call after saying good bye. I powered down my machine and got out of my chair, stretching my limbs to wake them up. Needless to say, I knew how to work around those awkward positions. I put my cell phone in my pocket, grabbed my signature black jacket and left after leaving a note saying where I was going.

**Near the woods...**

Spring was definitely coming by. I could feel it. And by now, you're wondering why I'm wearing a black jacket in the middle of that season. I like wearing it where ever. No real reason behind it. So whenever it's around that time, which is essentially anytime it's not Winter in Texas, I keep it under one of my AC vents. Luckily, that one hovers over my dresser, so it's not hard to find. Keeps it cool so I can wear it during this weather. I approached the lake and proceeded to walk around it, hopping over a broken concrete platform. I assumed it was there for picnic-ers. But no one really comes by anymore.

I waltz past the woods and walk toward an old, broken down garage building. The building was around for a long time, I assume as old as around World War II. But it looks like forestation took over, and with all the activist trying to save the trees, this forest was thankfully spared. But the building's seen better days. There was nothing of value though, so we assumed it had been straight-up abandoned, and I occasionally come by to clear my head. This was a calm place to be.

"Hey, you made it!" And today, I wasn't alone. Right around the corner, I saw the love of my life standing by the rising door. Bethany stepped away from the door as we both embraced each other. Today she was wearing a maroon dress with spotted artwork over it and brown sandals. It was a dress that she wore commonly, so she's gotten used to not finding ways to wreck it.

"So, aside from your brother flipping the lid," I started as we separated, still holding hands, "how've things been?"

"Ohh you know, getting ready for major tests, and all that," she replied. 'Ohh that's right.'

"Crap. I almost forgot those were coming up." She glared at me semi-seriously.

"Logan, don't say that. We've got only three more weeks to prepare for them-"

"I know, I know," I said, cutting her off. "I did say 'almost', meaning I've been reading up on notes."

"Do you think you'll be able to ace them?"

"Ehh…."

"Maybe?" she finished. I nodded in response. When it came to academics, I wasn't on top of the world. I'm not failing any classes, but I'm not acing most of them either. Mainly B's and C's in anything not involving computers. "Well don't worry. As long as you keep up the studying, you'll crush them."

"I actually don't worry about that unlike you. That's probably why you stay so on top."

"Logan, the reason I do so well in my classes is _because_ I study. Why do you think almost every student in our classes comes to me for help?"

"That includes me sometimes," I muttered.

"Mainly because you keep living in your own little world when it comes to our classes at times. What even goes on in your head, huh?" she said as she started poking my head.

"Gah! Hey, stop that!" I said laughing at her.

"Nevaaah!" I eventually grabbed her hand and pushed it away from me, both of us laughing and sitting down beside the rising door. We looked up, seeing the sun setting past the trees. Snuggling close, we just sat and watched it for several minutes until I broke the silence.

"Hey… do you mind if I ask you something? And, you _won't_ laugh about it?"

"Of course. Go ahead."

"What would…. What would you do if you once met a character you thought never existed?"

"…. What's bringing this up?" she asked curiously.

"I dunno. It's just something I keep thinking about. Like, maybe if one day I'm at home, and for some strange reason I see Sonic himself standing outside of it. I honestly don't know how I'd react."

"Well I definitely would. If I saw a blue anthropomorphic hedgehog standing out by my house, I'd freak out. That's really creepy, even if he _is_ harmless!"

I couldn't help but laugh at that. "Not what I meant, but okay. Seriously though, what would you do?"

She thought about it before responding. "To be honest…. I don't really know either. I'm not expecting it to happen, so.. really it's whatever ends up happening. We don't really control what all happens in our life. And even if we did, it wouldn't be on a paranormal level. So how would we figure that out?"

She had a point. Even if someone's crazy and expects a fictional character to come to life before their eyes, how _would_ they know how to react? Though I still wonder… ".. Never mind, forget I said anything."

"Well if you don't mind me asking, what made you bring that up?"

"Just, pointless rambling. Guess I'm feeling a bit stressed out from the academic torture that's 'preparing' us," I told her. That wasn't a lie. I knew this next month was gonna be hell in a well-made hand basket.

Moments after sitting in silence again, her phone rang. It was most likely her mother. She picked it up and answered. "Hello? … Hey, mom. What's going on? …. I'm by the old place with Logan."

"Hey Mrs. Porter!" I said to the phone.

"… She said hi back," she turned to me saying. Turning back she began speaking. "So what's up? … Aww.. do I have to?" 'Crap.' "…. All right, I'll be home soon… Bye." She ended the call and stuck her phone back into her pocket. "I have to go. It's getting dark and my mom wants me back home."

"Aww. Do you have-"

"Yes, I do. I really don't want to though." We both stood up.

"Well it's okay. I'll see you tomorrow on Monday, okay?"

"Okay." We embraced again. "I love you."

"I love you too." We broke away and said good bye before leaving in different directions. After I circled around the lake, my phone rang again. I'm certain it was my mom asking where I am because she didn't even bother looking for the note. I answered. "Yes, mom?"

"_Hey, I found your note." _'Huh. That's a first.' "_It's getting dark out, though. Are you on your way home?"_

"Yeah, I just left about five minutes ago. I should be home soon. Why?"

"_Well, unfortunately, we had a blackout, so we're going out to eat tonight," _she informed me. 'A blackout?'

"Hold on, is it just us?"

"_No, it's the entire neighborhood. Hopefully it's that and not the whole town. We'll find that out once we leave. Let me know when you get home, okay?"_

"All right. I'm gonna go now. Bye." I waited for her to respond, then hung up. It was uncommon for our street to have a blackout unless due to a severe thunderstorm. I eventually got back and it turned out it was more than just our neighborhood that had a power outage. That was _definitely_ weird. It came back on after maybe an hour or so, and we'd gotten food beforehand. I wondered if our transformers were screwing up. I couldn't ponder on it anymore as it was getting late, and I was senior in high school. Not a good mix. I fell asleep still ever curious about what if.

**Chapter ****End**

**And 'zat is it for now! Lemme know what y'all think. I'll be updating this as ideas keep smuggling in. Expect new chapters sometime soon.**


	2. Curiouser And Curiouser

**Greetings again! I have returned with the second chapter to Lost in a New Zone. Before we begin, I'd like to acknowledge a review by I Hate Snatch Steal; _Thanks for bearing with me through that. With my actual work, I do things in script form, which stands why it's not on FanFiction. But this idea is spin-off, so essentially this is my first time writing. I'll try and give you some more to review so you can help me scope out any possible errors._ Now, onto the story. Enjoy!**

**In the neighborhood...**

A week…. A whole week of torture… I can't take it anymore. Why do they put us through this? What are they hoping to accomplish? I wish they'd just get it over with... oh. I, of course, refer to the endless note taking we've been doing. It's sooo _boring_! Why don't they just give us a guide to study so we can move on to other stuff? I'm half surprised I still wake up in the morning to go to it. Speaking of half, I'm only half-awake right now.

Since I ride the bus, I have to get up earlier than you would if you own a car and could just drive to school. Especially since our bus driver has a tendency to get to our bus stop earlier than scheduled. But it doesn't bother me too much, considering we don't have to wait for her to get there. But of course, that means you've gotta be up and ready beforehand so you don't miss the bus. I was half-stumbling because I was so tired. Usually I would have my sister, Keni, there to shake me awake. But she ended up having a stomach virus, so she couldn't be.

Not that it mattered, and I was ticked once I found this out. The second the bus showed up, we got some good and bad news. Well, mainly just news from her, which was good. "I'm sorry, everyone, but I just got a call from the school board. Apparently the systems are still acting up from last night's power outage." That definitely struck as odd.

"Did they ever figure out what it was that did it?" a student asked her, to which she just shook her head.

"Nope. Nobody really knows. But regardless, since everything's malfunctioning-"

"School's out for the day, correct?" I finished for her.

"That's right." A lot of the students cheered before starting to head back home. I decided to have a quick chat with the bus driver before doing so.

"So wait, you got the call just now? As in, maybe five minutes ago?" I asked out of curiosity.

"As in, 'as soon as I pulled around the first curb'. Right now I'm letting all of the other kids know that as well, considering this is breaking news."

"Then I'll take that as an excuse for still having to get up." And there's the bad news; having to wake up just to not get where I was going. Splendid.

"Right? I still have to go around the neighborhood and let everyone know. I can't just drive back home and go to sleep. That's not happenin'," she said with obvious irritation.

"Maybe not, but you're still getting paid for it, right?"

"Thank all, I am. Speaking of which, I gotta get going. You tell your little brother I said hi, okay?" she asked before closing the doors, to which I replied with a thumbs-up. In addition to dropping us off at our high school, she also tends to the children for elementary, which my little brother, Austin, attends. Boy, was she in for a rough morning if the other schools cut off too.

As she drove off, I started to head back home, my own irritation building. 'Well that was all for nothing. Good thing Keni was sick, otherwise she'd be ranting about it too. And I'd rather not deal with the same ranting mood passed down from our father.' Yep, my dad can be pretty aggressive when it comes to stuff like this. I was thankful enough not to inherit it. Err.. not much, anyway. I can still fall out of the steam room and into its boiler, but I can also control the heat. … 'Not, sure if that made any sense.'

**At home…**

I got back home, my mother asking why I'm back, to which she answered her own question, with a question. "The school system's jacked up today because of yesterday, isn't it?" To which I replied "Eeyup". I dragged myself back into my room, pulled myself back onto my bed, and attempted to force myself back into sleep. Unfortunately… that wasn't happening. My morning adrenaline kicked in, and now I can't fall back asleep. Worst part about it is it only keeps me awake. It doesn't kick most of my motor skills in. That sucks.

I hoisted myself out of bed and decided to hop on my computer, not bothering to turn my lights on and just let the early sunrise seep in through the blinds. I keep my laptop on sleep mode most of the time with the background programs off, so the second I click the power button, it comes on in a near-flash. Once the monitor flashed onto my desktop, I opened Steam and looked to see if there was anyone to talk to. Strangely enough, Joey was on. He must've left it unless he's on his phone.

I opened up my messenger and typed; "Yo Joe bro, you there?" It was a personal greeting I give him every now and then. It's a way of entertaining me.

He started a call through Steam. "_Yeah, but hardly. We're still waiting for class rooms to open up here, so I thought I'd see if anyone was up to chat. I'm surprised you're on though, Logan. You never open up Steam this early. Especially on a school day," _he replied.

"Well, today it's not a school day for me."

"_Wait, what?_"

"Last night, we had a power outage that looks to've affected most of Conroe. And as an aftershock, pun intended, it's still screwing with our school's computer systems, most likely the servers. So we can't go in until that's fixed."

"_Cool. A day off._"

"That I still had to get up for," I reminded him. He was right. I never open up Steam early because either A. I'm asleep, or B. I'm at school. Right now, neither of those were applicable.

"_Right, ouch. Well, at least you'll have a day with just you and Bethany, right?"_

"Doubtful. Anytime there's a surprise off-school day, her mother wants her to stay home while she's gone. I'm not really sure why." This wasn't true in all cases, but most of the time, it was. Bethany would've called me by now saying she could leave. Thus far, she hasn't. So crap.

"_Jeez, sink the knife in deeper, why don'tcha?" _he said.

"Why does it matter? It's my skin. Might add some salt to the wound too."

"_Well, I can't stick around anymore. Class is starting. You take care, Logan. I'll hop on TF2 with you once we're off here. Catch ya around."_

"See ya," I said before he ended the call and went offline. And now I was by myself. Looking around on Internet Explorer, I checked my Facebook to see if there was anything interesting on. I do use Facebook, but rarely, so it's nice to see what all develops in my absence. As I browsed, I about fell out of my chair laughing when I saw this.

Keni posted about her ill-day, inevitably taking a "selfie" of herself, which consisted of her blonde hair tied up in a ponytail, and a white bathing robe. I don't believe in the word "selfie", so I was about to just close it until I saw just what the post said. It said, and I quote: "staying home today because im sick. will enjoy the school day off, but hope I get better soon. 0:)" This was a post I absolutely could not resist trolling. I opened the comment section and replied.

"Keni, I'm not sure if the illness is making you delusional or not, but taking 'selfies' is not a legitimate way to cure it." And not even fifteen seconds later, she took the bait.

A comment popped up that said "dont be jelly Logan. you should be focusing on what's being shown to you and not looking at your phone." Ohh easy rebuttal.

"Who said it was on my phone? I'm currently starring at my laptop monitor with your post on it." If this doesn't get her, I dunno what would. Luckily, she caught it, as I heard footsteps approach my room, and a soft knock on the door.

"Come iiiin~" I sang. The door would've busted open if it weren't for her current condition, which I'm surprised she mustered the strength to get up anyway, so she simply just opened the door.

"... Really?" was all she uttered.

"Really. Because of yesterday, everything's jacked, so they didn't even bother having us show up," I explained. And instead of irritation, she actually sighed with relief.

"Well that's good. That means I won't be behind in any of my classes. And I can rest without worry."

"... So, wait. Is Facebook a type of rest? 'Cause if it is, then sign me up for however they're doing it."

"You know what I mean. Did they ever figure out what caused that blackout? in the first place?" I shook my head. "Darn. I was hoping."

"They can't exactly give us a straight answer when there's only been a day of investigating. And a blackout like that's not viable to happen again until maybe a week, so they don't have any leads." Keni just gave me a look of disapproval.

"You do realize that now that you've just said that, it's gonna happen, right?"

"Pfft, I doubt it. Karma doesn't apply to all situations." That I believed. Normally karma only happens during actions that you cause, not words. I also don't believe in Murphy's Law. That's out the window big time.

**Elsewhere…**

"Hmm... You think it'll run again?"

"I sure hope so. Now that it's had a day to power up, I think we have a shot."

"Then give it a flip."

**Back here…**

"Though I'm still at a high peak of curiosity. Do you think maybe-" Before I could even finish my sentence, I noticed the fan in my room stop. I looked to see that my computer gave me a notification of my computer unplugged and my internet disconnected. And of course, the one to predict it was right behind me.

"… So, what were you gonna say?"

"Well, now I'm gonna say… God damn you, Murphy. Could use that salt right about now." Sighing in defeat, I put my machine back on sleep mode and just closed the lid. "So, there goes my morning."

We heard a voice ring from downstairs. "Hey, did the power go off up there?" It was mom.

"Yes!" we both shouted at the doorway. Keni ended up going back to her room and I just sat there, even more irritated.

'This is the second time in a row. What the hell?' I decided not to ponder on it anymore and just go for a walk. Rare, but I didn't have a choice. I grabbed my jacket, my mom stopping me at the front door.

"Going out?"

"Shocking, isn't it?" I checked my pockets to see if I had my phone, which I did. "I'll come back once the power comes back on. I'll hear the transformers wind up again from the old place," I told her.

"All right then," she said while stepping away from the door, "but be sure to check in after about two hours."

"I will, I will." I finally stepped out the door and proceeded to walk to the old place.

**In the woods…**

My phone rang as I circled past the lake. It was Bethany. Was she able to come over? "Hello?"

"_Hey, Logan! I'm so sorry I didn't call you before. I'm helping mom garden because of the black out considering we're both free today. I offered, so I can still come see you if you want."_ Ah, there's the catch.

"No no, sweetheart. Don't let me get in the way of you bonding with your mom. She's too cool of one to not be around." That was true. I actually liked hanging out with her parents. The only creepy thing is they keep comparing me to her father, who is very similar to me…. Moving on.

"_Aww, you're so sweet… okay. But if we finish early, I'll head your way, okay?"_

"That's a pretty big 'if', Beth. I know you and your love of floral arts too. If you don't wanna come my way today, I understand."

"_Mmm... h__ow do you know me so well?"_

"Magic. I'll talk to ya later, okay? Love you!"

"'_Kay, love you too! Bye!_" she said as she hung up.

And once again, I was left alone. I didn't mind it. It gave me the chance to just look around admire everything. The blooming of the leaves due to the season, the feeling of the already fallen leaves cracking beneath my boots, the sounds of the birds, the wind, the voices- ... wait, voices?

I heard them clearly as I approached the old place. I noticed the rising door slightly ajar. Someone was in it, but who? I propped myself against the wall and listened in on what they were saying.

"No, it's definitely broken. I'm seeing all kinds of fried up parts in it. That's not good."

"Can we fix them?"

"Definitely not. Once they're fried, they're done for. But it's just the computer parts, thankfully. The generator's still good as new."

I didn't know what was going on, but it didn't sound right. Who exactly were these people? Why were they using the old place? They have power if they've got a generator in there, so that's not shocking. Maybe they were affected by the blackout too. But were they here yesterday? Maybe after-

My thoughts were interrupted by one of the voices speaking up. "Come on, hold still."

"I _am_ holding still. You're the one making me move."

"I'm not trying, just... sit... there. Think I got it." Then a loud clank was heard.

"Ohh come on!" Then two more. ".. There. Jeez, why is that thing so hard to close?"

"Sorry Sonic, but it's for safety reasons. That, apparently did nothing."

'Sonic?!' That tore it. Now my curiosity reached a limit even I couldn't fathom. I subconsciously approached the rising door and swung it the rest of the way open, and what I saw shocked me so much I could only utter one word... "Holy crap..." Okay, two words.

**Chapter**** End**

**And that is the end for this one. Any information I need to garner? Review it my way. More chapters coming out soon..**


	3. Unexpected Guests

**Greetings everyone! Sorry for taking so long. I've been spending most of my time looking up colleges since I start this Fall. It's not gonna be easy once it does, and I may not have a lot of time to update. But I do like to write stuff like this, so I'm not abandoning it. The story will go on until it ends the way I have planned out. Until such a time comes, here's a new chapter. Enjoy!**

**In the Old Place...**

You know that feeling where you see something so unbelievable you think you're losing your mind? Then you realize that certain something is actually real so you try and make sense of it, not always accomplishing it? Currently, I was in that situation. And I did not know just what to make of it. I stood there speechless as I stared right inside the old place.

And in my field of view was the one and only, Sonic the Hedgehog, apparently covered in a bit of soot. Standing right beside him was his mindful partner, Tails, who wasn't covered in anything. They were both standing in between what looked like a giant machine looking pretty beat up. But I wasn't too focused on that. Right now I'm focused on the two anthropomorphics standing right in front of me. If anyone could see past that, then good for them.

We sat in silence for what seemed like a minute, but it was only a few seconds. They turned to each other, whispering about something. I just crossed my arms, my eyes darting away from them. I didn't know what to say. I certainly wasn't on the verge of freaking out, but I was most definitely amazed. It's not every day, or any day at all for that matter, you see your two favorite game characters right in front of you. I began wondering if my head seriously wasn't playing tricks with me.

My pondering was interrupted as I looked up and saw Sonic step forward. I could only imagine what he was gonna say, or ask, or- "Hello! We, are sorry, for intruding! ... Do you understand, what I am saying, to you?!" ... Or just HOW he was gonna speak either way, assuming I couldn't understand him. That snapped me back into reality.

"Uh, yeah. I can comprehend," I managed to say.

"Are you, suuuure?" he said, keeping the same slow tone. Okay, NOW I was getting irritated.

"Sonic, knock it off. He can understand us just fine," Tails stepped in and said.

"Ahh come on. I'm just havin' a little fun," he chuckled.

"There's a time and place, Sonic. Now's not one of those times. And this definitely isn't the place."

"Um, about that," I nervously started, "I'm probably gonna be in for a long tale, but... what happened exactly? And I think a bigger question is when did you end up in here?" It obviously has to do with that machine, so I wonder why it brought them here.

Tails looked at me, my anxiety rising again. "I'm.. not sure we should tell you. You're actually the first person we've met here. And you... look like someone we know."

"Yeah, and we're never on good terms with his mustached face. I still remember all the times I would kick his and his robots' butts."

"... Would?" I asked. Were they done with Eggman?

"Well, I guess 'would' isn't the right word. But they were still great times," he replied. 'Figured.'

"Uh huh. Well as you can plainly see," I said, pointing to my face, "I am lacking a long, bushy rope of facial hair, and about a hundred fifty pounds on me." That last one anyone could see. I'm a freakin' stick.

"Wait, how did you know about his... roundness?" Tails said, picking up on what I said.

I rubbed the back of my neck. "It's... a story in itself, Tails." Before he even let out a word, I continued. "Ah, let me finish.. I think the only way I can explain it is this. Hold on."

I then pulled out my phone, opened up Bing, activated the keyboard, and was seriously reconsidering this... but I wouldn't be able to explain it anyway. I typed in the keywords "Sonic The Hedgehog (Series)" and hit enter. I clicked the first thing that popped up, which was thankfully leading straight to its Wiki page. Yeah, I use Wiki. Problem? I made sure to stick to the quick summary tab assuming that's all they need. Hopefully this was enough of an answer, or if not, maybe it'll get me on good terms with them.

"Here, look at this," I said before tossing my phone to Sonic, who caught it. I wasn't worried if he didn't, anyway. Thing was in an Otterbox. If it managed to break, I would toss the thing up at the counter I bought it from, glare at the person who sold it and say '... They lied to me.'

"What's on here?" he asked.

"You'll find out. That's... sadly, the only answer I can offer." He and Tails both looked at what I put up on the phone. I saw both of their eyes widen a bit, and Sonic's finger started sliding across the screen, which implied they were wanting more information. After about a few minutes of them looking at it, they both looked at me, fairly surprised. And that's about what I was expecting. Although I thought they would be a little more shocked.

Sonic looked up and asked "Is this.. real?"

"It's legit," I responded.

"That's kinda creepy... but it's still pretty cool!"

"Wait, what?" both Tails and I said. That's _not_ something I was expecting. At all.

"Yeah! I'm already a revered hero in my world. I didn't think that would extend here too."

"But, you're-" I stopped myself. I decided to just let him have this one. ".. Yeah, sure. So, do you think you can trust me?"

They both thought about that for a moment. Tails spoke up first. "Well, I guess we can. But as long as no one else knows about this. We can't risk starting a possible uproar."

"My lips are sealed," I said, lifting up my hand. "Promise. Only one other person knows about this place enough to come to it, and she's busy today."

"Then we'll have to be careful. What we're doing might not take a day," he said.

"Mind if I ask what that would be then?" I asked.

"Not at all. Though, it's a pretty long story. It all started back at my workshop overseeing the ocean.."

**Inside Tails' Workshop...**

"I was working on a machine that would successfully transport something from Point A to B. It was a life-sized version to start, but it was only for experiments until I could make sure it worked properly, then I would create a miniature version for during our fights. That way we could get any Chaos Emeralds we find somewhere safe in a flash. I was just about to start testing it until Sonic walked in.

"'Hey there, Tails. What'cha up to?' he asked.

"'Sonic! Perfect timing,' I said as I started the machine up. 'I'm about to start testing out a new teleportation machine I'm working on.'

"'Teleportation device? What for?'

"I started typing in the machine. 'If I can get this to work, then we can easily get the chaos emerald somewhere without having Eggman try and fight us back for them.'

"'Hm.. that doesn't sound like a bad idea. But how exactly are we gonna move this?' he questioned, motioning around the machine.

"I finished typing. 'We're not. This is just a quick prototype I built. After it's finished with testing, I'll build another, smaller version of it to take with us.'

"'Ah. And then what'll happen to this thing?

"'That, I don't know yet. Might hang on to it for future experiments.' I walked over to one of the chambers to make sure it was powered on, which it was. 'All right, it looks like I can start. I'll need a signature for the machine to recognize so it can start, though. So we'll need a Chaos Emerald. I should have the one we found last week stored in its usual case.'

"Sonic walked over to the case and, thankfully remembering the code, typed it into its keypad and opened it up. Afterwards he pulled out one of the legendary seven Chaos Emeralds. I don't think I need to explain just how powerful they are to you already, so I'll skip that part. He tossed it to me, who nearly fumbled with it but managed to get a grip on it, and I placed it inside the machine. It closed up and I darted back over to the console. Looking at the readings, the machine was good to go!

"'All right. Everything's set for transport. Let's get started.' I started typing in coordinates on the console. 'Let's try and send it somewhere in the workshop.' After I finished typing, I hover my hand over the power button. 'Here goes nothing!'

"I pressed down and the machine slowly whirred before powering up directly. Hopefully the only issue we would have to account for was that it would take a lot of power to activate. The result would be it would end up either on the table or back in its case, where the signature was also recognized. Whichever result, it would've been a success. Unfortunately... it wasn't.

"About a minute after I start it up, the console flashed a warning saying the machine's power levels were overloaded. 'Uh oh' was the only thing I could utter.

"'What's happening?' Sonic asked, a bit worried.

"'Looks like the emerald's scrambling the power levels. I'm gonna try and level them out.' I quickly attempted to divert any excess energy out of the machine to stabilize it. But no matter what I did, it didn't change anything. It was evident the machine would explode with that much power running through it. So to keep it from doing so, I had one other option. In order to keep the excess energy from killing us both, I had to risk it. I didn't want to do it, but.. I randomized the coordinate numbers and hoped for the best. The machine started sparking intensely and the last thing we saw was a bright flash."

**Back at the Old Place...**

"And then after that, we ended up here," Tails concluded. "That was yesterday. Today we're stuck trying to get us back home. You know the rest after that."

I nodded in response. "I think I understand, yeah. So, that white flash... just a shot in the dark, did it happen to be Chaos Control?" I asked. It had to've been.

"Yep," Sonic cut in. "Like he said, we had no choice. It was either that, or a huge explosion."

Tails shuddered in regard to that. "We've been in a lot of life threatening situations and that's the only thing I'm not used to."

"I'm certain. An explosion isn't exactly something you can just walk away from. Anyway, back on track. You also said this... was, yesterday?" I said, slowly picking up on something.

Tails nodded. "That's right. I'm thankful we landed here so we didn't cause any type of panic to the public. Of course, we had to wait a day for this to recharge, and the wait wasn't exactly easy. I still have to keep Sonic from taking off at times."

"Hey, I like my daily runs. You know that. I can't keep up my title of "Fastest Thing Alive" if I can't show off just why," Sonic rebutted.

Though I wasn't listening too much as I finally put the pieces together. "THAT explains it!" I shouted, damn near startling Sonic and Tails. I waited a few seconds for that bit of embarrassment to pass and continued. "Um.. sorry. But yesterday we experienced a random power outage. We weren't having any freak thunderstorms, so it struck as weird. Big time. It only lasted for about an hour, so we never determined what it was about. And at some point today, it happened again, which is why I came out here today, now running into you two. So I'm assuming that whatever caused that was because of the machine. Is that right?"

Tails took a minute to think about it. "Well.. it's possible your technology might not be able to withstand the energy fluxes from the emerald. So due to the massive energy waves we must've created in using it, it might've knocked out any electrical generators within its vicinity. ... Sorry."

"Hey, it's not exactly something you can anticipate. Don't worry about it," I said, genuinely not upset. Just because we know about the now not-so-fictional concept doesn't mean we'll be preparing for it. So why would I be mad at them? "Though I do have to ask, will you be running it again?"

Tails walked over to the machine. "Not anytime soon," he began. "We just finished inspecting the internal parts, and most of them are burnt out."

"So in other words," Sonic spoke up, "if those parts aren't replaced, there's no way we can run this thing. And it's not like we can just head back to our world and pick some up." That got me thinking for a moment. If it's possible Sonic and Tails' world is similar to ours, then could our parts work with it? ... It's worth a shot.

"Well, maybe I can help." They both immediately looked at me.

"You can?" they both asked, Sonic looking a bit skeptical.

"I said 'maybe'. I have a few old computers lying around at my house. If I bring one or two over, do you think you could scrap what's in them to fix up this machine? Some of the parts in them are in mint condition, so we were originally planning on selling them. But, I think this is a better use for them," I explained.

Tails examined his machine for a moment. "Hmm... that might work. Just how old are your computers?"

"Uhh, pfffft... I'd say about five, ten years old, give or take."

"Then it's a chance we're willing to take. If you can bring them over at any point, I can see what's inside and use whatever's intact to get this to work. We really appreciate you offering to help... um.. sorry, we never actually got your name."

'Crap, I knew I forgot something.' "Ohh, heh. Sorry. My name's Logan."

"Pleasure to meet you, Logan. And again, thanks for your help. We're hoping sometime this week, we can get back home to our friends," Tails said.

"I'm happy ta help! I'll dart back over to my house and bring over my computers. It'll take a while, though. It's about a five minute walk to get there and another back. And I'll be carrying expensive equipment I'd rather not get broken, so that'll be adding a bit more time."

"Well then why don't I go with you? I'll get them back here like *snap* that," Sonic offered.

"Umm..." I rubbed the back of my neck again. "No offense, Sonic, but no one's really seen video game characters come to our world before, so you might start an uproar if someone sees you."

Sonic gave off an audible groan. "Come oooooon. Is there at least anywhere I can run without being spotted?" Well, that I could at least help him out with.

"Hang on a sec." I pulled my phone back out and opened up Google Maps. ... What? Just because I use Bing as a search engine doesn't mean I thrive on it for everything. Anyway, I did a quick scan of the woods and checked any possible travel routes. Thankfully, there weren't any. "All right. If you're okay with this, the woods are pretty much a ghost town. Barely anyone comes around, and even if they saw you out here, people would think they're crazy. To be honest... I'm having a hard time believing this myself. But, if you stick to the forests, you should be fine. From here to the west, it stretches about forty to sixty miles, so you should be good as long as you don't come across the main roads."

"Great! So uh... how did you find that out? You know your way around these woods or something?" he asked.

"No," I answered. "I may come to this place a lot, but this is only the beginning of the woods themselves. I just scanned the area with my smartphone and checked to see if anyone travels here much." Both of them looked at me in complete surprise. "... Okay, you're starting to creep me out. What's wrong?"

"I, didn't know that was your phone. I've never even heard of a smart one," Tails uttered. ... Okay, what?

"Are you serious? I mean, I can't blame you for not thinking it was one to begin with. Apple's not really obvious with their designs, but seriously. Your world's never invented a smartphone, much less _heard_ of one? I thought your race was supposed to be more advanced than mine. I've seen you guys do this kind of stuff on your WATCH!" I shouted in my own surprise.

Tails was startled for a second. "Well... we do. But we honestly haven't done that with our phones. We haven't even gone past the very first cell phone."

I immediately went on Bing and pulled up a picture of OUR first cell phone, hoping they'll know what I mean. "Is it something like this?" I held up the smartphone to them so they could see.

"... Yeah, that's it," he said. "I didn't think your world would've gone past it either."

After hearing that, I had to resist laughing. They were supposed to be _living_ in the future. Guess they haven't grasped our concept of mobile devices much. "... All right. I'll take that to heart and be on my way. I'll be back in a little while." I stepped out of the old place and walked in the direction of my house.

While walking, I called my mother, checking in and asking if we still had the old machines. To be honest, I thought they would've left the house by now. There's a lot of collectors out there looking to rebuild their old computers too. She said they were still in the closet, which is good. Now my stature was more at ease. Once I brought them back to Tails, we can hopefully get their situation rectified quick so they can get home. This... was going to be interesting.

**Chapter End**

**And here the chapter concludes. As said before, all reviews are appreciated, all flames will be discarded. More chapters shall arrive within... well, within whenever. See ya then!**


	4. Desperately Needed Repairs

**Hello again! Here I present to you (the late) chapter four to the tale of Lost in a New Zone! Keep in mind that college starts for me tomorrow, so it may be a little longer for me to write these as I'll have a lot on my plate. I'll be lucky if I even get to go out of state to see my girlfriend before Thanksgiving. But we'll find out soon enough, won't we? Now then, you may enjoy!**

**At the house...**

I remember my old Dell desktop. It was the first computer I remember playing on when I was a lot younger and still learning about it. The main thing I really did was play the few Windows games it had. Hearts, Chess, etc. Internet browsing kicked in once we got our connection set up, and it definitely was a new experience. Messing around on that one machine let me know that I was gonna be extremely involved with technology. And I was right. About a few years later, a disc somehow broke in the CD drive (**True story. Still don't know how.**) and some of the shards slipped inside, cutting through a bunch of wires and completely scratching the inside of the machine. We couldn't fix either problems, and it would cost more to fix it than buy a new computer.

So in the end, we kept it in the closet under the stair case of our house. I hadn't really touched it until today, as Tails needed the parts from it for a chance at getting their equipment up and running. There was another desktop in there too, but it was just something we received from a family friend and never did anything with it. So that was in here too, and I decided to bring both of them to see what we could salvage. The wires might've been shredded, but the chips inside were still alive.

"So what exactly do you need these for?" my mom asked, standing beside me.

"I ran into Caleb at the old place, his power going out too. We were getting bored, so I decided to bring him these and just mess with them. Show him some of the parts that're still functioning," I partly lied. And I'm sure you expected that. If not, then be honest. How would you explain my current situation to your parents?

She seemed a bit concerned at first, but knew by now that I was a computer geek. I treat my machines like I would treat my child if I had one. With the utmost care, which involves, _especially_ involves, cleaning up its... waste. "All right, but please make sure you keep everything together and in one piece. We're still hoping to sell the parts to anyone interested."

"I know, I know," I said, slightly irritated as she didn't need to tell me the obvious. I'm more careful with computers than anything else anyway. I picked up both desktops, being absolutely careful with how I'm holding them, and waited for mom to open the door so I could go.

**Near the woods...**

While walking, I noticed I was a little behind as I had to practically ravage through the closet to find the two machines. And now it would take me a little bit longer as I was carrying two very delicate, and somewhat heavy, pieces of technology. One I grew up with and held a close memory of, and the other I could care less about. In fact, Tails can do whatever he wants with the latter, but I'll be assisting in the means of the Dell. I'm hoping to at least bring its hovel home, as it's become a cherished possession. I even remember my dad telling me I spent more time on it than I did watching weekend cartoons like most children did.

I slipped through the woods and noticed a slight path void of leaves, noting them scattered to the sides. Yep, Sonic's definitely getting his needs for speed accomplished. I just hope he stays covert and follows the path I gave him, as I prefer them not getting spotted. I approached the old house and noticed the shutter closed again. Guess one of them closed it on Sonic's way out. I sat down the computers carefully and started to get the door open. But... it was stuck.

"Damn it." I banged on the shutter door. "Yo, Tails! You in there?!" I heard something clattering around before I heard his voice.

"Logan? Yeah, I'm here! What happened?" he asked.

"I'm trying to get the shutter open, but it's not budging. Is anything stuck back there?"

"Let me look," he said. I waited for a moment before he came back. "No, I don't see anything. But now that I'm looking at the door, it all looks pretty rusted. How old is this building?"

"This place? We're thinking it's been around since one of our biggest wars in the world, so it's probably ancient. That'd explain why we're having a pain. We might have to work together ta get this thing back open," I explained.

"How do we do that?" I took a minute to think.

"Hm... are there any crowbars in there?"

Tails went silent as once again, I heard things clattering around again, and I heard a metal tap from the other side.

"Found one!"

'Thank God.' I reached into my pocket pulling out my knife. It wasn't for self-defense, but it was one of my grandfather's, so I keep hold of it. "All right, here's how this is gonna work. I'm gonna stick my knife into the door. Once I can get it lifted just a bit, shove the crowbar under it and push. Hard." That's asking a lot from Tails, but it's our best bet.

"Got it! Let me know when you're ready," he said.

I started looking around the door for somewhere I could shank my knife through, and give Tails the quick lift he needs to get the crowbar under the door and force it open. I heard footsteps approach as I did so, assuming it was Sonic getting back from his run. I looked up and saw that Sonic was still absent, but... Bethany was here. ... 'Crap.'

"Surprise! I know you like your alone time, but I figured I'd come out anyway. Mom was okay with it, and I can finish with the garden at any time. So umm... what're you up to?" she asked after seeing me skimming along the door.

I quickly put my knife back in my pocket and stood to face her. "Uh... well, you see... uuuuhhhhhh..." I couldn't do it. There was no way I could come up with a fib in this situation, and even if I did, she probably wouldn't buy it. She's known me for three years. I sighed in defeat and spoke back up. "All right.. I'll tell you. You remember that little conversation we had yesterday?"

"Which one?"

"The one about... *sigh* the one about fictional characters turning out to be real." This was not gonna be easy to explain.

"Hmm... ohh yeah! I remember. But.. why?" she said, tilting her head in confusion.

"Well... you're not gonna believe me when I say this, but... it happened."

Bethany just stood there, even more confused. "... What did?"

"What I just said. Sonic and Tails, two characters I thought never existed, turned out to be real." And the 'you're crazy' comment in three, two, one..

"Logan, are you sure the stress of the testing coming up isn't making you see things?" Aaand there it is.

"No, Bethany. It's not. I'm being more serious than ever right now. I came here this morning because I had nothing else to do due to, again, the power outage. I heard them working inside the old place, they needed my help, I offered, and you're not believing a word I say, are you?" I cut myself off asking.

"Logan, of course I don't. That sounds incredibly ridiculous. I really think I should get you home," she insisted. Who was I kidding? It IS insane, and my only means of evidence was currently waiting for me to budge the door for him.

"Just.. just, hold on, okay?" I tapped on the door. "Hey Tails, did you catch all that?"

"Um, bits and pieces," he replied sheepishly.

"Well, all you need to know is someone else is here. But, she's cool. She's just trying ta figure things out."

Bethany stepped in. "Logan, what is going on?" Bethany asked me, getting slightly angry.

"Bethany..." I sighed. I really hope she could soak this in. "You'll see once we get the door open," I was able to say. I knelt down by the door, looking for the sweet spot. Luckily, it wasn't far out of reach. I shoved my knife inside. "All right, Tails. Get ready."

I heard a tap on the door, presumably the crowbar he had. "All set! Go for it!"

With all my might, I pushed down on the knife, getting the door open just barely. But that's all he needed as I heard a clank under the door. Tails stuck the crowbar and gave it one big heave, opening it completely. 'Huh, guess I underestimated his strength.' He set the crowbar aside and looked up. "Welp, that worked like I wanted it to. Nice work," I said to Tails.

"Thanks! So um... who is this?" Tails said, referring to Bethany. I looked to her, and saw that she was staring at Tails in disbelief.

"Oh uh, Tails, this is my girlfriend, Bethany. She's um... I think she's having a bit of a hard time processing this. You know why."

"Yeah.." Tails looked away, rubbing his arm. I can tell he was hoping no one else would show up.

During the moment of silence, I attempted to wake Bethany up from her trance. I started by slightly shaking her, that didn't work. Then I snapped my fingers in front of her face, and she blinked twice before shaking her head. That did the trick. "You okay?"

"Um... I think so," she said skeptically.

"Do you believe me then? You believe this is really happening?"

"I didn't want to, but... I mean, the evidence is a bit overwhelming. That's not just a costume, anyone can tell."

Tails looked a bit confused. "Wow. Are we _that_ popular here?"

"Like you wouldn't believe," I told him before turning back to Bethany. "And I know, this is a lot to take in. Do, you need a minute?"

"No, I'm fine."

"Are you suuuuure?" I said, slowly closing in on her. She jokingly pushed me back laughing.

"Yes, Logan. I'm okay. Promise. But, if you don't mind telling me.. what exactly happened?" she asked. I figure she'd wanna know the story too.

"I'll let Tails explain it," I started, picking the computers back up. "I've gotta get these computers open and disassembled for him. You'll know why after the explanation." We stepped into the old place and, very carefully, slid the shutter door down halfway. With the condition it's in, I didn't want it to be put through anymore brute force, lest it break on us. While Tails was telling Bethany what happened, I set the computers down and borrowed his screwdriver set. After getting what I needed, I started going to town on the machines.

**Ten Minutes Later...**

It took me a bit of work, but I got out every functioning piece Tails might need. I guess it's a good thing Bethany came so I could work on these myself. I wasn't so certain if their equipment's setups were any different than ours.

"...and Logan offered to help us get back home. That brings us to now, which I hope you can keep hidden," Tails finished explaining.

"Don't worry, I won't say a word. And, you said Sonic was going out for a run? Aren't you guys trying _not_ to get caught?" she asked.

"I already checked the woods for any paths people normally take. Aside from our usual one, there aren't any deeper in. And even if someone's out there, if they told someone else they saw a three foot tall blue hedgehog in the middle of the woods, even with knowledge of the Sonic series, they'd still be considered crazy," I told her. And I honestly wish I was wrong, but a large majority of people like to act normal these days so it's not like I can do anything about it.

"I really do wish people would open up their minds to the possibilities, though. There would be so much more creativity if that happened," Bethany noted.

"So if they don't, that's not considered normal?" Tails wondered.

"If they don't, then it is, and that's the problem. People always get so high-strung anytime you say just _one little word_ wrong, and start bothering you about it. How can one express their thoughts if they're being buckled down all the time? It bugs me to no end because it's getting to the point where even _I'm_ the one being normal." Bethany looked upset after finishing that sentence.

"Same here. I'm losing my 'out of mind' touch due to that," I said, sorting out the parts we might need. "All right Tails, I think I've gotten every little bit out of these old blocks. Let's use them carefully, though. I'm hoping to go back with at least a few mint condition parts." Tails came over to me and examined the parts carefully.

"Hm... wow! This is it! These parts are exactly what we need to get the teleporter back up and running!" he exclaimed. He immediately ran over to his machine and pried it open, and I could see just why he needed the parts, as did Bethany. It looked like a huge fraction of bits and pieces were either melted or charred. Before we could even install the parts, we would need to clean it out first.

"Wow... I'm probably gonna be sacrificing my childhood toy for you guys, because it looks like you're gonna need a LOT of these parts," I said, a hint of irritation escaping with that sentence.

"Well, I think we should clear out the machine before we can determine just how much we need. Bethany-"

"You can just call me Beth, Tails," she cut him off saying.

"All right then. Do you think you can help me out with cleaning this... devastation? I can definitely use a hand."

"Sure! But um, I'm not, really the best with computers.."

"Oh, it's no problem! I just need you to start unscrewing and pulling out trashed parts."

"That, I can do." She stepped over to the mess that would be fixed eventually.

Tails turned to me and asked "Logan, you know about proper coding when it comes to technology, right?"

"Indeed I do," I answered. I picked up a lot of tricks from my dad, so I'm in most of the know when it came to setups.

"Then in that case, I need you to keep an eye on the monitor. It's gonna start flashing a mess of numbers and letters once we install these since it may not recognize him, and we have to keep its stressed levels under par since it's been through a lot already," he explained.

I saluted him. "Consider it done." I walked over to the monitor and kept eyes on what was showing up. And man, did it. The streams of characters flying along the screen made it a challenge to keep up, but I kept hold of it, and re-arranged anything that was out of place. Hopefully. I'm sure Tails would correct the little bits, but for now I was focused on potentially dangerous programming errors.

After about four hours, and Sonic's late arrival nearly freaking us out as he just slid under the door unnoticed (we caught him up when he saw Beth), we knocked out a lot of issues. My mom called me sometime after and told me the power was back on, so she wanted me to come home. I wanted to keep helping, but... I also wanted to eat tonight. "Sorry, guys. I just got a call from my mother. She wants me to come home now that the power's back on," I told the two of them.

"Do you have to? I'm sure you can stick around a bit longer," Sonic said.

"Dude, if you met my mom, you wouldn't be saying that. She may be kind, but her kindness can immediately be transformed into something unspeakable..."

"Ummm.. yeah, and I think I need to get going too. My mom sent me a text saying she needs my help at the house," Bethany said.

"It's no problem," Tails said. "We've gotten a lot situated, I can probably handle the rest myself for the next couple of days. Thanks a lot, Logan and Bethany. You can come by before we have to go if you'd like."

"We'd love to. We've got stuff of our own to get ready for, so we'll only be able to show up on that day, which is... when?"

"If we play our cards right, I should have this done late Wednesday afternoon."

"We'll take it then," I said.

We opened the shutter door and stepped out, saying goodbye to the two of them before shutting the door again, keeping it half open. I hugged Bethany before she left and I traipsed back on the path to my house feeling... well, giddy. If today turned out to be a benefit to them, then hopefully in the middle of the week, they'll get to see their friends again. It's gonna suck for me once they leave. I think we became good friends too, but... I can't keep them here. I pushed those thoughts away as I kept along the trail and just enjoyed the walk.

**Chapter End**

**The end draws here. All reviews accepted, all flames will be burned. It only seems appropriate. See ya next time!**


	5. Saying Our Goodbyes

**Yo, what's up? Welcome back to Lost in a New Zone, now with a new chapter! Hard to believe the only other time I write these properly as at night. I guess my creative mind starts flowing ideas into my consciousness so I write it out whenever possible. Well, I'm not gonna try and make sense of it and let you move on. enjoy!**

**At home, Two Days Later...**

Hard to believe that the middle of the day would turn out to be one of the strangest things I've ever experienced. It's just so hard to believe a company would implement this into their game and it got popularity over the course of a day. And according to a certain Spy, it is the considered the forbidden dance. Team Fortress 2 came out with a major update this morning and it added a lot of new taunts to use. One of them... was The Conga.

I kid you not; the server I normally go to is currently in passive mode and just dancing around using The Conga taunt. The best part is you don't even need the taunt yourself as long as someone else is using it. So everyone was just screwing around, taking the briefcase (flag) and just dancing it back to ours or their base. It was freakin' hilarious to see, though I think Joey's a bit irritated by it as he wanted to play the game normally, but kept getting killed when he disrupted The Conga.

"_Ohh come on!_" I heard him scream into my headphones. "_That's the fifth time already. Why can't they just play the game?_"

"Because everyone wants to keep using the new taunt before the hype dies down, Joey. The day it does, people're gonna go right back to killing. And that shouldn't be too long," I explained.

"_I know, but... it's just SO BORING to have to wait until people stop doing the damn dance._" That was partially true. When it came to The Conga, nothing really got done while people kept dancing about. I _did_ like Congaing, but I also liked playing the game. And if it came right down to it... ahh hell with it.

"Joey, I've got an idea. Hold on." As the Spy, I disguised as the enemy team and seamlessly walked up to rejoin the Conga. Once I got close enough, I stabbed an enemy player and quickly cloaked as a Heavy used his chaingun to mow down my team members. And... let's just say that reactions weren't positive as they retaliated. After no more than five minutes, the battles resumed, and people started playing the game normally. "And that, my friend, is how ya do it," I boasted.

"_Dude, I dunno how you're the best with Scout, yet you can be so manipulative as the Spy,_" Joey commented.

"I have my days, Joey. One day I'm good at sneaking, the other I'm better at sprinting. Regardless, I'm still no master of the game." As we kept playing, I heard my phone ring. Looking at it, I noticed it had no number. I wondered... "Hang on a sec, Joey. I've got a phone call." I muted my microphone and answered my phone. "Hello?"

"_Logan? Hey, it's me, Tails! I can't believe I got this to work!"_ I heard Tails exclaim. 'Wait, do what?'

"Tails? Wait, hold on. How did you get in touch with me? I thought you guys didn't advance in cell phones."

"_We didn't, but you were right when we said we do stuff like your phone does on our watches. Which is what I did. I used my multi-purpose communications watch to tap into your phone's signal and traced it back to you."_ And it is times like that I would never underestimated the intellect of that kitsune.

"Hm... then, how did you get my number?"

"_Um... I, kinda hacked into one of your social media profiles for the number, but that's all! Promise!" _... Nope. Still not questioning it.

"Alllll right. So long as that's it. Now, what's up?"

"_I think I'm just about done with fixing up the machine. If you and Beth wanna see us off, you can head over now."_

"Cool. All right, I'll give Bethany a call and head your guys' way."

"_Great! See ya then!"_ He hung up. 'Welp, I guess that's my signal to go.' I put my headset back on and unmuted my mic.

"Hey, Joey. Just got a call from a few school friends. They wanted to hang out before our madness of testing starts," I lied to Joey.

"_Yeah, I heard about your upcoming tests. I guess I'm lucky not to take anything like that right now,_" he responded.

"Don't remind me. Especially since we're a bit behind on studying. I'll talk later, okay?"

"_All right. See ya around, Logan!_" I exited the game and put my computer back in sleep mode before grabbing my jacket and phone before taking off. I sent a text to Bethany saying "Hey, come meet me by the old place if you can." Hopefully she got the jist of what the message said. She sent me a quick "k, omw over" and I kept a move on.

While browsing my phone, I noticed I got an alert from CNN about an important event. I don't normally trust news stations because sometimes the information given can be pretty biased and unsupported in the means of evidence. But it doesn't mean I don't at least READ the stories and see what they're covering. I clicked on the alert and saw the headline. My heart nearly sank.

**In Town of Conroe, TX...**

Two officers were investigating the nearby neighborhoods for any type of disturbance regarding electricity. Due to the amount of power outages not caused by severe weather, the police and detective forces were on high alert, as it may be due to the work of a terrorist or the hacking group Anonymous. Before they were only hacking into data from other citizens' computers, but it could be possible they've hacked into various hotboxes scattered around the town, and are sending a message of some sort.

"So, did ya find anything?" one of the officers asked.

"Nothing. I've gotten permission to search the households as well, and nothing's turned up."

"Damn it. This is getting difficult. I'm thankful the residents were cooperative."

"I'm sure they're wanting to figure this out as much as the rest of us. And if it includes us searching inside their homes, then I'm gonna assume they'll allow it for that reason." The other officer looked away. "But I just don't get it. This is something major that should only happen via natural disaster or someone ramming into an electrical pole."

The first officer thought for a minute. ".. Do you think it could be Anonymous?"

"I honestly doubt it. While I'm against what they think they're standing up for, I don't think they would resort to a city-wide blackout."

"I wouldn't be surprised if that turns out to be a headline for a news network regardless. Because if it were terrorists, I think the military would've been here by now."

"I hope you're right about that. I'd rather they find out and tell us before anything else. Panic alert or not, that's some serious business."

"I know... and I'm hoping the same thing.

The two officers returned to their respective police cars, patching into their radios and informing the station of no progress. They were given instructions to report back and just call off the search until a new source develops; more specifically, if another blackout happens. If it does, they'll be prepared to trace its occurrence, find out who's responsible for the power outages and put a stop to it.

**At the old place...**

"What do you mean 'this'll be our last chance'?" Sonic asked after I told him the news.

"I mean just that. The authorities are all on high alert in regards to our power loss twice in a row, with no reports of a blown transformer or a freak storm. And there's been examinations of all the electrical poles. No damage," I said.

"He's right, Sonic. I imagine the population's about to go into full panic once we do this again, so we've gotta make sure everything's ready to go," Tails said.

"Good, because according to what CNN's put up from their interview with the main tech security department, they're ready to make their move once this happens again. Which means if this doesn't get you guys home AND knocks out power, we're screwed."

And I wish I wasn't right when I said that. Once they found Sonic and Tails, no matter what prior knowledge any of them have, they're responsible for putting everyone in an uproar and possibly starting anarchy somewhere... okay, so the chances for that last one are slim, but they'd still be captured, and I wasn't about to let that happen. We made sure everything was in working order, and Bethany slipped through the door a minute later.

"Guys, we have a problem," Bethany said as she slipped in and lowered the shutter door behind her.

"We're on top of it already, sweetheart. The PD's ready to make a move," I told her.

"Uh, they're not _ready_ to make a move, Logan. They _are_ making a move." My eyes widened.

"What!?" Sonic, Tails and I shouted.

"I saw them on the way over here scoping out the woods. I snuck by them, but they're getting close, and the odds are they'll investigate the old place once they find it."

"Then we REALLY need to hurry," Tails said as he frantically started typing.

"I'll keep near the door," Sonic said as he dashed over to it. "At the slim chance they find us here, I'll hold them off long enough for us to get this done."

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that," Bethany said.

Tails stepped away from the console. "Okay, we're ready. Logan, do me a favor and check the right side. See if the emerald's still in there." I nodded and stepped toward the side of the machine.

Looking carefully, I noticed a little red box. That might be its little home. I opened it up gently and for the first time got to see one of the legendary Chaos Emeralds for myself, namely the green one. I dunno how it is that one always pops up first, but it's not something that was on my mind right now. I wasn't even touching it and I could feel the intense power radiating off of it. I had to keep resisting to remove it and take it for myself, but... it was incredibly tempting... I shook my head and quickly closed the storage box.

I walked over to Tails. "Everything looks like it's in order. If you can get that thing to work, do it."

"Let's hope so. Logan and I'll dart out once it's ready to do its thing," Bethany noted.

"All right." Tails stretched his fingers. "Here we go." And like that, his frantic typing began again, this time even faster than before. I swear he got what he needed to done within ten seconds. After he did, he hovered his hand over the button that started it all. "Everyone, pray to whatever powerful being you believe in, because here goes nothing!" He slammed his hand on the button.

The machine started to whir quietly, then the noise slowly picked up. I was getting anxious, hoping that this would work so they could get home. While it was powering up, Tails took the precious time they had to talk to us. "Hey, before we leave, I just want to say... thank you both so much. We never could've done this without you."

"It's our pleasure," I said.

"Yeah, it's no big deal. We're always willing to help people. Even those that... don't, really live in our world," Bethany, sort of said. We all couldn't help but chuckle at that, to which she responded by just looking away, slightly embarrassed. "Well... it's true."

"I think the only thing that bugs me is we're probably not gonna see each other again," Sonic said. "I never did get to ask just how much your world 'guessed' our adventures." That's also true. I kinda wanted to see if what SEGA produced was spot on to Sonic and his friends' journeys. Especially when it came to timelines like Shadow The Hedgehog. I know it wasn't meant to fit with whatever timeline SEGA had in mind, but hey. One can always be curious.

The machine's rumbling started to get increasingly louder, even Tails seemed startled by it. It started to beep and set off some kind of alarm. That must be our cue. "Well, I guess we'd better go before we-"

"Oh no. No, no no no, this can't happen now!" Tails shouted as he darted over to the console. ... All right, maybe it WASN'T our cue.

"What's going on, Tails?" Sonic asked.

"The machine's not doing what it's supposed to! It's overloading! I think when we installed the parts, we never determined just how hard they'd be able to run!" Suddenly the case where the new parts were installed started to spark and emit very thick smoke. He was right. The new parts weren't capable of stabilizing with the machine since they've never undergone this amount of processing power before. If we can't stop it, the whole machine might explode and there goes their ticket home. "Hold on, I'll try and stop it!"

Tails once again started with his frantic, desperate, typing in an attempt to shut the machine down. Bethany and I looked at each other worryingly. We were both thinking the same thing; if Tails can't get the machine to stop, we would have to bail. As if on cue, Tails started shouting. "No NO NO!" He slammed down on the keyboard. "I can't stop it! It's on complete lockdown!"

"Then we need to get out of here, Tails! That thing's gonna blow!" Sonic shouted. He started to lift the door, but kept struggling with it. "Grr... come on! Logan, help me out!" I darted over to him and tried to help him lift up on the shutter, but even our combined strength wasn't enough to get it to move. That's when I realized it was completely closed. I guess we were too paranoid about the PD finding us and didn't remember the door's ancient.

Bethany had a look of complete fear etched across her face. "Logan... is this it?"

I got up and walked over to her, holding her close. "I don't know. I honestly don't know, but it looks like it."

"No! It can't end like this!"

"Well the door's stuck!" Sonic said. "So unless there's another way out, then-"

"Okay, hold on everyone! Just calm down. We're not about to die," Tails reassured everyone. But, seeing as fate was being cruel to us today, the machine began rumbling out of control. Sparks were emitting like crazy, parts were falling out of it, certain sections were on fire, and even through the non-glass box, we could see the Chaos Emerald radiating like crazy. Tails noticed this and came to a conclusion; "... Okay, we're gonna die." I face palmed.

"Yeah, thanks for the reassurance, bud. Can we panic now?"

".. Yep."

With his permission granted, we all screamed in panic as the machine gave off its grand finale; KABOOM! The room was filled with a bright, painful light as the machine exploded. I lost my grip on Bethany as I was forced away, attempting to stay awake as my consciousness fought to cease function. Unfortunately... I didn't win as my eyes finally closed, then nothing but darkness fell upon my vision.

**In said darkness...**

"... _Did... did w... t back?"_

"_I th..k we did. But wh... ened to Lo... ...any? Ar... ey okay?"_

"_... Umm... Sonic?"_

"_Wha... it?_

"_I think I found them... but you're not gonna like this..."_

**Chapter End**

**My, ohh my. It would appear the adventures are beginning very soon. What does Tails mean? Are Logan and Bethany still alive? Did Sonic and Tails TRULY make it back home? And what happened to the PD officers searching the area? Find out as at least two of these things are revealed in the next chapter to come.. whenever. Remember to tell me your thoughts. I love that stuff. And only you can prevent fiction flames. Catch y'all later!**


	6. Waking Up To Unknown Places

**Salutations to all! Welcome to a new chapter of Lost in a New Zone. Before we begin, I'd like to acknowledge two reviews by ****Mobius 2K14**** and ****wolfking51000; **_**thanks to the both of you. To Mobius; the reason why I say no flames is because I was initially worried since this technically is my first FanFiction story. I'm not too worried about it now, but I like to keep it up just in case there are... Flamers... plus it gives me more opportunities to make a "No Flame" gag at the end. Anyway, to Wolfking; yes, that is my real Steam name, minus a clan tag, which is .:C7:., which is a tag for Conquerors of Sovereignty. But please don't add me randomly. You can send me a PM on here and I'll consider. **_**Now then, onto the story. Enjoy!**

**In a room...**

I could feel myself slowly come to, my body having random jolts of pain shoot through it. My eyes slowly opened, my vision blurred. I started recalling what had happened.. mostly. I remember the machine Sonic and Tails were working on malfunctioning as we powered it up, and couldn't stop it from what it was doing. Beyond that, I can't remember anything else. I started to wonder if they actually made it back. And for that matter, where was I? Did the PD find us and take us somewhere?

"Hey, hold on. It looks like he's waking up. I'll check on him. You can come back when you're done," I heard a voice say... was that Tails?

My vision finally cleared up and I was, indeed, looking at the kitsune, who had a smile on his face now. I struggled to get my vocal cords functioning for a minute. "T... Tails?"

"Yeah, it's me. You were knocked out for a while, Logan. We were getting worried." Tails lifted up what it looked like an ice pack away from me. "How're you feeling?"

I uttered out a groan before speaking. "Ugh.. like I got flattened by a massive cinderblock," I told him. "What happened?"

"Um... well, after the machine started breaking itself apart, we noticed the emerald start to glow. We didn't know what was going on, but once the machine exploded, we were surrounded by the same white light from last time. We looked up and... well..."

"Well what?" I didn't like where this was going.

"It worked. We're back on Mobius."

"Really? That's- ... wait..." I noticed what he said and quickly put two and two together. "Crap. We went with you, didn't we?"

Tails sighed. "Yeah. I'm afraid so. You and Bethany were caught in the explosion's radius, so you were transported to Mobius with us."

Well that's just outstanding. Here we were trying to be good people and get two practical aliens back home, and karma decided to turn against us and brought us to a possibly distant planet. But, at least I have some knowledge about it already, so we weren't totally in the dark. The pain I was feeling finally subsided and I tried to get up, but Tails stopped me.

"Hey, slow it down getting up. Something happened in that explosion and I'm worried it might've done some internal damage. I wanna be sure you're not hurt," he said.

"I'm fine, Tails. Honest," I tried to tell him, but he just shook his head.

"I don't know that. I'm just saying you need to take it easy."

"I will, promise. But, what exactly happened in that explosion that you're worried about?"

"Um... well..." Tails looked away. I stared at him curiously to figure out why he was being nervous about it. "You see, uh... when we made it back, we were looking for you two, and found you, but... didn't exactly recognize you before."

"Tails... what're you hinting at?" I asked, worry in my voice.

He took a quick breath. "You... should see for yourself. Take a look at your hands." I didn't like the sound of that request, but I nodded and motioned my hands into view. I about jumped out of whatever I was laying on as I kept gazing. If my mind wasn't playing tricks with me, I saw that both of my hands were covered in green fur. I rolled up my sleeve and saw my entire arm was also harboring it. I almost knew what this was implying, but I had to be sure.

"Um... do you have a mirror?" I asked him, trying my best to keep calm.

"Yeah, we have a full-length mirror that goes in here. But I put it up so you wouldn't freak out before," he explained. Yeah, and that seems to be helping right now, doesn't it?

"Could you go get it now that I'm... half aware?"

"Sure. I'll be back in a sec." He ran out of the room, presumably where the mirror is. While he was gone, I decided to climb off of what I was laying on, which I'm guessing was some sort of guest bed. I started to wonder where Bethany was, and if she was even okay. My thoughts immediately got cut off as Tails walked back in with the mirror he mentioned. He sat it up next to the door and said "All right, here it is. Brace yourself."

I took what he said into mind and, skeptically, walked up to the mirror and had no words as to what I saw. Aside from, ya know, describing it. Instead of seeing my usual self, I saw a green fox... yeah, that happened. I looked about the same as Tails, except I had long, spiky hair that almost made me look like an anime character and my eyes were my usual light grey. I still had on the clothes from earlier, except they now had changed to a dark grey-ish tone, and my boots were replaced with casual footwear. Already I was in a state of panic, and it didn't exactly help that when I looked closer, I saw something swinging behind me... my tail.

"What... the hell.. happened to me?" I asked, pretty much to no one. Though Tails heard the question.

"I don't know. All we do know is it had something to do with when the machine exploded. We're trying to figure it out, but we wanted to make sure you were okay first," he said.

I was able to tear my vision away from the mirror for a few seconds to talk to Tails, and that's when I noticed that apparently I shrank too. I was the usual Mobian height now, save for a few inches taller than Tails. Yep, that definitely confirms it. "And Bethany? What about her?"

"She hasn't woken up yet. You were the first one to come to. She's still in Sonic's room asleep on his bed. Follow me, I'll show you. I need to check on her anyway."

Tails stepped out of the room and I followed, my movement slightly shaky due to the distress of my new form, and my new height. I was used to taking longer steps because of my tall body, but that wasn't the case anymore, so I had to do some getting used to. I looked around where we were, knowing now that it was their house. Everything looked like you would see in a usual house, so I wasn't gonna get lost too easily. We came up to a closed door and Tails opened it, motioning me to go in first.

I walked inside the room, and saw someone laying passed out in the bed. That had to be Bethany if Tails wasn't lying. I walked up to her and saw that she changed too. She was a blue fox with blonde hair that reached to her shoulders... okay, so she kept _her_ hair color and I didn't. All right. Anyway, her outfit had changed too. She was wearing a short sleeved purple shirt and skirt that came down to her knees, and purple sandals. I noticed she also had a black hairband in her hair too. Even in this form, she still looked absolutely amazing. I just hope she was okay. I wanted to try and wake her up, but I had to resist doing so. I wanted her to wake up on her own time.

"Do you think she'll be okay?" I asked Tails.

"Yeah, she will. She's still breathing. I tried waking her up before, but she wouldn't budge. I've decided to just leave her alone."

I nodded at his decision. "I think that's a good idea too. Though I do have a question; how long was I out?"

Tails took a moment to think about it. "Hm... Well, I know for sure that that explosion knocked all of us out. Sonic and I came to about a half hour before you did. But what I'm not sure of is when we made it back here." Well that blows, but I guess it wasn't important.

"Hey, speaking of Sonic, where is he?"

"He went out for a run to clear his head. He's a little guilty about roping you guys into this. And, I'm a little bit guilty too."

"Guilty for what? Us volunteering?" He still looked away, a bit ashamed. "Tails, neither of you had no idea this was gonna happen, and we didn't either. We were doing this in the hopes of getting you two back home, and it worked! The only flaw was we came with you and... established different forms." I looked back at my hands as I said that. "Point is, you shouldn't beat yourself up for something you didn't have control of. Nothing's gonna be perfect, so we take what we're given."

Tails looked back and didn't respond for a moment. Then he chuckled and said "Were you always a poet back in your world?"

"A poet? Pfft, not in a million years. Bethany's the one who comes up with poetry. I just say what people need to hear, and you and Sonic definitely needed to hear it. We'll put up with this until we can get back home, no matter how long it takes." And I imagine it was gonna be a while considering the machine's probably in pieces by now.

"Well, I guess it's good to hear you say that, because... well.. I'm gonna have to rebuild the machine from scratch. Everything's either in scraps or completely burnt up." Yep, kinda saw that cliché event coming. "Well, I guess if you wanna look around our world, I can't exactly keep you from doing so. I can set my work aside and come with you."

"Are you sure? Because first of all, if you need the time to work on it, I'm not about to stop you. Second, who's gonna watch over Bethany until she wakes up? You need to stay here, I'll be fine on my own."

"I don't know that. I just want someone with you to be sure. We'd rather no one else find out you're from a different world."

Suddenly the door swung open and we heard Sonic's voice. "Hey, Tails! I'm back!" We both turned to see him walk inside.

"... As if, on cue," I said out loud.

Sonic saw me and smiled. "Logan, you're awake! How're you feeling?"

"Like my skin's been replaced with fur. I'm still getting used to... this," I said, waving my tail in front of me. I dunno how I've gotten good control over it.

Sonic rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah... I would've guessed. So, what were you guys talking about?"

"I was telling Logan that he's free to go looking around, but I'd rather he has someone with him just in case," Tails explained, to which I nodded to.

"So you need a tour guide? Well say no more, I'd be more than willing to if Tails is too busy."

"He's probably gonna be," I said. "so if you're up for it, then that's fine. It would be helpful if the notorious bald-headed Eggman arrives."

Sonic couldn't help but laugh at that. "Yeah, I think we're gonna get along just fine. Well, if you need a few things, I'll be out front."

Sonic stepped outside and closed the door behind him. Well this is certainly gonna be interesting. Not even ten minutes awake, and I'm about to go for a stroll around whatever city, town, etc. is shown in the games. I started to wonder what exactly we would be doing. I guess I'd find out once we got there. I checked my pockets to make sure I had at least something. I felt and found my phone, pulled it out... and saw the screen completely shattered... Great.

"Well that's just splendid. I haven't even had this phone for two months and it's already broken," I groaned.

"Is it? Oh.. so it wasn't just mine. The explosion must've taken out anything electronic because my watch was destroyed too. I have a few replacements, so I'm not worried. You can borrow one while you're here," Tails said. Before I could say anything, he'd already darted off and not even a minute later, came back with a yellow medium sized watch. "Here, this way we can keep in touch."

'Well, I can't refuse it since he already brought it to me,' I thought. So I took the watch and put it on my left wrist. "Thanks, Tails. Please keep an eye on Bethany for me and keep her calm. She's not gonna be happy once she's wakes up and finds out she isn't a human anymore," I told him.

Tails nodded. "No worries, I'll take care of it. Have fun looking around. And, I might as well say this now. Welcome to Mobius."

"Thanks." After I made sure the watch was securely fastened, I took one quick breath of air. "All right.. here we go." I opened the door to the house and went off to find Sonic.

**Chapter End**

**And that's all I wrote for now. Have a review? Don't hesitate. Have a flame? Please think twice. Catch ya around!**


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